ABSTRACT
Background: thalassemia's, a group of inherited hemoglobin disorders, constitute a major international health problem
Objects: the current study examined the relative risk of thalassemia posed by consanguineous marriages in thalassemia families
Material and Methods: the study was based on qualitative data collected through interviews and questionnaire based surveys from 262 families suffering from thalassemia including couples and their children
Results: out of the 262 couples, majority [72%] were first cousins. These 262 families had a total of 1046 children, 582 males and 464 females. Out of these, 303 boys and 293 girls were healthy whereas 279 boys and 171 girls were thalassemia. Caste system was the major factor affecting Consanguinity and inbreeding and Raj put caste was the most prominent caste [21%] of the 22 Castes studied
Conclusion: intra-caste marriages represent one of the major factors in the consanguineous spread of Thalassemia's in our society